I have made this for the Speaking with Snakes contest by *intergalacticstock She is in a Harry Potter themed band called "The Parselmouths" - it apparently means someone who can talk to snakes. As one that knows absolutely nothing about Monseigneur Potter, i take her work for it! So, Yeah. This is for that!

Specs:
I have been working on this on and off for a day or so, and the end result was about 70 odd layers.. I trawled through a LOT of snake stock to find some nice pictures. I dont mind snakes, but was a bit freaked out after going through them all!

Your umbrella-holding young woman seems to be having an intense conversation with the snake in the grass in front of her – love the way you’ve positioned them, and the overall composition and lighting. The two snakes to her left look as if they’re looking up to see if it’ll rain… beautiful work!

Hi!Sorry for the late reply. deviantART has been doing my head in lately and i needed time away from this place. Thankyou for faving and commenting on this piece. This is a quick walkthrough of how i do skin.
First off, i always say pick a good body stock image that is as big as you can get and good in quality. Once your image is rendered off its background, DUPLICATE IT and correct the blemishes in the skin by using the healing tool on the duplicate layer.

Then do Filters > Noise > Dust and Scratches and move the slider to about 5
Notice the image is very blurred now? Go to Layer > Layer Mask > HIDE ALL

Then, the painstaking bit.. You need a soft round brush with white as the foreground colour and then brush over the skin - Leave out the details like the eyes, nose mouth, eyebrows, eyes, fingers etc. That should give the airbrushed-skin look. I got this from a tutorial at sxc.hu which is here > [link] - You may have to be a member to access it? I don't know? Although its free to join and they have great stock!

There are some great tutorials to get you on your way here on dA too. Check these out

I am learning how to photomanipulate and was wondering if you would share how you manage to make her look like a painting without losong the quality of the photo. I use Photoshop CS2 and would love some advice (gives puppy eyes)

Oh thankyou so much! I am stunned that you like it enough to feature it! I always go through a period of indecisiveness before submitting because i think people will think my work is rubbish. Thankyou for giving me confidence. It means a lot.